Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, it's good to see you again. The last time we had a chance to interact, we talked about the carbon tax and its impact on our farm community. We talked about the figures that came out. The charges were between $210 and $819 per farm, which are fairly low, and those were the average costs reflected in the federal backstop of $50 a tonne.
I do note that at our last meeting we had our colleague Philip Lawrence here talking about his bill, Bill C-206, which would further exempt some carbon costs on some farm fuels. I also note, for the record, that the Liberal Party voted against that bill. If it's a minor cost, perhaps it's understandable. I wonder if I could ask this, then. Why would the government consider a fairly expensive and bureaucratic rebate program if the cost to the average farmer is so small?